The roller coaster, although conceived in the 60’s, could not be realized until the technology was available almost a decade later. Gordon Cooper (Mercury 9 and Gemini 5 astronaut) was actually part of the creative team as a consultant. His goal was to insure the ride simulated the experience of being on a space flight.

View inside Space Mountain with the lights on.

The attraction was designed by the Imagineers and built by a company named Dynamic Structures. The ride reaches a height of 90 feet tall with about a 26 foot drop and reaches about 27 miles per hour. With a track length of about 3,200 feet the ride takes about 2:30 minutes for the entire space flight.

Preparing for blast off in one of the launch tunnels.

The attraction has been updated a few times over the course of its life in the park, with the most recent being in 2009. The last time it was refurbished, there were a number of references to Horizons, the retired attraction from Epcot, were placed within the attraction.

Queue area within the cavernous Space Mountain interior.

There are two tracks within Space Mountain and each track consists of 15 trains. Each train can hold 6 people which explains why there is usually such a long wait for the attraction It has been a fan favorite since its opening and Space Mountain has been placed in every Disney Park around the globe.